Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Thank You, Father, that through the shed blood of Jesus and by the power
of your Spirit within, we can come to you in everything. We open
ourselves to You. Renew us today. Amen

Please read: Romans 5: 5, 6

What do you think? What is the difference between being “poured into”
and “poured out”? How dependent are you on your watch? Do you ever look
at the clock, or your watch, during a sermon?
That last one was just for fun! It reminds me of a joke! A young boy
took an “unchurched” friend to church. Throughout the service he would
lean over and whisper to his visiting friend explanations of all the
“goings on.” When the pastor took to the pulpit, took off his watch, and
positioned it above his Bible the young boy whispered to his friend:
“That doesn’t mean anything!” [The boy didn’t understand: Pastors wear
calendar watches!]
God is less concerned about time than we are. Yet, in our text today we
are told that God acted “at the right time.” When we were still without
strength, weak, unable to act on our own, still ungodly, at that “right
time” Christ died for us. As someone has said, “God often delays, but He
is never late!” And because of that timely work (the “for” at the
beginning of verse 6 tells us that it is the basis for what happened in
verse 5), God’s love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit (Who we have as a gift).
Do you enjoy gifts? Have you thought of the Spirit and His Holiness in
your innermost being as a gift? God says He is a gift, and that the
affects of His arrival are an overflowing of God’s love in our innermost
being, our “hearts.” I still remember the astonishment and anxiety on
faces of the young and not-so-young alike as, several years ago, I
deliberately overflowed a glass with water to illustrate God’s abundant
provision. Here we are told that His love (which is without measure) is
“poured out” in our “hearts” [which are finite]. Don’t try to control
it, direct it, conserve it: Let His love splash on everyone you pass.
The time is right!
Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your perfect timing; allow us to live
unrushed (especially when we think “time is short”). We thank You for
your limitless love; we surrender to You our desire for “neatness” and
“control”, cause us to revel in Your overflowing, splashing love. We
thank You for the Holy Spirit, given to us, living in us; cause us to
rejoice in His extravagant, lavish ways. May it always be so!

John Michael Milgate, A Community of Grace